Floor waxing apparatus



' July 1, 1969 B. B. BIXEL moon WAXING APPARATUS Filed NOV. 6, 1967 ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,453,058 FLOOR WAXlNG APPARATUS Bart B. Bixel, 1500 NW. Highland Ave., Grants Pass, Oreg. 97526 Filed Nov. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 680,876 Int. Cl. A46b 11/02 US. Cl. 401188 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A novel apparatus is provided for applying liquid wax to floors in a rapid, efficient and economical manner, generally as a preliminary to polishing. An operating handle operatively carries at its lower end a high pile, fleecy, roller which rests upon the floor and is rolled along the floor by the handle. A combined wax reservoir and air pump is mounted upon the handle, being chiefly supported from the floor through the roller, and applying its weight usefully to the roller. The wax is pressuresprayed intermittently, as required, directly onto the upper surface of the traveling roller, under the influence of a conveniently situated valve operator. Although all of the sprayed wax is caught on an upper surface portion of the roller, it is promptly transferred by rotation of the roller onto the floor.

This invention relates to the application of wax to floors, and more particularly to the provision of novel apparatus whereby the wax can be applied more rapidly, more evenly, with much less exertion, and with less waste of material than heretofore.

Many expedients have been contrived for applying paint and other coating materials to walls, ceilings, floors, etc., including sprayers, rollers, brushes and so-called fountain brushes, but the characteristics and requirements of floor waxing are such that none of these expedients has been found to be practically useful for that purpose. Up to the present time, no means for applying wax to a floor has been found to be as practical as the use of an ordinary floor mop and an open bucket.

When a floor is to be waxed and polished it is desirable for a suflicient application of wax to be made to assure that the floor will be completely covered by a uniform, thin coating, but that there will be no substantial surplus to be picked up by the shoes and tracked onto rugs, or itself to pick up and retain sand, soil or other contaminants. The range of variation should be held within narrow limits, both for the reasons just pointed out, and for economy of material.

When a mop, freshly dipped into an open receptacle of liquid wax, is drawn over the floor, it is likely to apply a considerable excess of wax in some areas for a time. A technique must therefore be worked out for redistributing the Wax with the mop while the wax is still highly fluid, and this calls for extra effort and involves a reduction of efliciency. The residual Wax in the open receptacle tends to thicken, and this introduces f ther problems and difiiculties. The wax supply in the receptacle must be replenished frequently, and from time to time it must be thinned. The receptacle has to be moved about to keep it in an accessible, unwaxed area, conveniently near to the shifting scene of operations. Many steps are wasted in going to and from the receptacle, and in shifting the receptacle. Care must be taken to avoid carrying the mop to the work site in a dripping condition. The wax tends to dry and harden on portions of the mop, particularly on portions which do not regularly come into contact with the floor. Care must be taken to avoid the accumulation and breaking oif of chunks of set Wax so far as possible.

In accordance with the present invention, all these and other difiiculties and drawbacks are overcome.

A light, portable, manually operable wax applying machine has been contrived which, in its most advantageous form, combines all of the following features:

(1) A high pile, fleecy roller applicator is provided which has the wax sprayed evenly onto its floor contacting, peripheral surface as the wax is required for use. The wax is all deposited on the back of the roller, but it does not have to soak through a mass of porous material, being promptly applied directly to the floor by the very surface onto which it is sprayed.

(2) The roller constitutes both the wax applicator and the sole floor contacting running gear of a vehicle upon which a sealed wax receptacle is carried. The receptacle is uniformly associated with the roller at all times. The receptacle and the wax in it, far from being an objectionable burden to the operator, apply a useful pressure to the applicator roller for promoting uniformity of Wax application.

(3) The receptacle includes a hand operated air pump which can be removed for filling of the receptacle with Wax, then replaced to seal the receptacle and pumped up to establish and maintain a desired pressure range in the wax containing chamber of the receptacle.

(4) The delivery of the liquid wax from the receptacle or reservoir to the spray head is under the control of a normally closed, remotely operated valve.

(5) The roller is rotatively carried at the lower end of the handle, and all of the other parts, including the receptacle with its pump and gauge, the spray head, the wax valve, and the valve operator are mounted on the handle.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing forming part of this specification,

FIGURE 1 is a view in side elevation, partly broken away, of a highly practical and advantageous, illustrative form of floor waxing apparatus which embodies features of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view in front elevation, showing the lower end of the floor waxing apparatus of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary, detail, sectional view showing the wax valve and associated parts.

The illustrative apparatus is a light, portable device weighing about eleven pounds when empty, and about nineteen pounds when loaded with a gallon of liquid wax.

The apparatus comprises an operating handle 10 in the form of a hollow tube, desirably composed of aluminum, magnesium, or an aluminum-magnesium alloy. The handle, which is desirably about five feet long, is provided with a knob 12 at its upper end for the convenience of the user.

At the lower end the handle is made to include angle brackets 14 which extend in opposite directions, desirably at right angles to the handle member 16, which brackets are secured to the member 16 in any suitable manner, as by screws 18. The handle member 16 is circular in crosssection throughout most of its length, but is made square at the lower end where the angle brackets 14 are attached to two of its flat faces.

The brackets 14 terminate in parallel arms 20, so that they jointly form a yoke. The arms 20 are formed with aligned bores for the reception of a shaft 22, which shaft takes the form of a long, headed screw and is secured in place by a nut 24. Upon the shaft 22 there is mounted a wooden cylindrical member 26 which forms a solid, rigid core for a roller 28. The roller 28 also includes a removable cover 30, which may advantageously be made to consist of two conventional, nine inch, high pile, fleecy paint roller covers connected end to end in snugly abutting relation. The roller cover may be replaced from time to time as required. The roller 28 serves both as floor engaging running gear for the apparatus, and as a wax applicator.

The handle and roller jointly form a vehicle upon which a sealed, liquid wax, pressure reservoir 32 is carried, the reservoir being always uniformly associated with the roller, and supported off the floor. The reservoir is in all respects like a conventional garden sprayer of the funnel mouth type, save for certain details of controlling the discharge of liquid wax therefrom.

The reservoir 32 comprises a tank 34. Substantially rigid bands 36 surround the tank, and each band terminates in short opposed parallel arms 38 which bear against opposite sides of the handle member 16. The arms of each opposed pair are bolted together independently of the handle by bolt and nut combinations 40, and are bolted to the handle member 16 and to one another by bolt and nut combinations 42, the bolts of which pass through the handle member 16.

The tank 34 is a solid and substantial structure capable of confining air and liquid under substantial pressure. It is equipped with a pressure gauge 44 for the guidance of the user. The tank includes a neck 46, and a funnel mouth 48 of which the neck opening forms a continuation.

The mouth of the tank is normally closed and sealed by an air pump 50. The pump includes a cylindrical body 52 whose perforated lower end is covered by a rubber flap valve 54, which admits air on the downstroke of a piston 56 but prevents escape of air during the upstroke of the piston, or whenever the piston is at rest. The upper end of the cylinder is closed by a metallic cap 58. The cap includes ears or flange segments 60 which, by rotation of the cap, can be cammed beneath retaining ears or flange segments 62 that extend inward at opposite sides of the neck. A gasket 64 surrounds the cylinder 52 just below the cap to provide a sealed joint between the cylinder and the tank.

The piston 56 is operated by a pump handle 66 through a piston rod 68, which rod is rigidly connected to the piston and to the pump handle, and extends through the cap 58. The piston rod 68 has fixed upon an external portion thereof a rigid cross-arm 70. The arm 70 may be moved by the rod 68 into a cavity formed in the head 58 and turned to lock it beneath segmental overhangs 72 of the head. When the cross-arm 70 is locked, the handle 66 may be used as a carrier for the entire machine. It is conveniently situated for this purpose since the center of mass of the machine is well below the pump handle, and that handle is located at a low enough level to cause the roller to clear the floor or ground comfortably when the handle is held at arms length by a person of ordinary height.

When the tank has been filled with liquid wax to a desired level and the pump has been operated to establish a desired pressure in the tank, the machine is ready for use. A conduit composed of a hose section 74, a side arm 76 of a Y-fitting 78, the lower end of the main body 80 of the Y'fitting, in which a valve seat is provided, and a tube 82, connects the tank to a spray head 84. The spray head 84 comprises a T fitting 86 and tubes 88 which extend in opposite directions [from the T-fitting, nearly to the ends of roller 28.

The tubes 88 extend parallel to the roller 28 and near to the surface of the roller, but they stand clear of engagement with the surface of the roller. The tubes are formed with discharge ports at frequent, uniform intervals on the sides of the tubes which face the roller 28. At their distal ends the tubes are flattened and sealed. A headed bolt 90 is passed upward through each flattened tube and through a spacer sleeve 92, and through one of the brackets 14, being secured in place by a nut 94. The tubes stand so near to the rollers that all of the 4 sprayed wax is caught on the roller surface, there being no escape of wax directly to the floor.

The discharge of Wax from the reservoir is controlled by a needle valve 96 which operates in a cylindrical chamber formed in the main body of the Y-fitting 78. The valve 96 has a cylindrical body, a needle-like point for cooperating with the valve seat 98, and an operating stem 100. The stem 100 extends through a closure cap 102 which closes the upper end of body 80. A compression coil spring 104 surrounds the stem 100, bearing at its upper end against the cap 102 and at its lower end against the upper end of the body of valve 96, constantly urging the valve to or toward closed position.

The valve is remotely controlled from a valve operating member 106 which includes a handle portion 108 and a disc 110. The disc 110 is pivotally supported upon a fixed mounting plate 112. The plate 112 has an arm 114 through which it is rigidly secured to the handle member 16, by one or more screws 115. A Bowden wire 116 has one end aflixed to the disc 110 and the opposite end aflixed to the upper end of the stem portion 100 of valve 96. The wire is enclosed in an externally corrugated sheath 118 throughout most of its length. The upper end of the sheath is fixed in place by being caught in a slotted arm 120 of mounting plate 112, while the lower end of the sheath is similarly caught in a slotted bracket 122. The bracket 122 is adjustably secured to a slotted portion of handle member 16 by means of a bolt and nut combination 124.

It will be apparent that the wax reservoir is always carried with the machine as a part of it. Since the reservoir is sealed, the wax has no tendency to thicken through evaporation of the wax solvent. This is particularly true because the air in the reservoir is generally maintained under super-atmospheric pressure. There is no need, therefore, to introduce the wax into the reservoir in small quantities, as one must do when using a mop and an open receptacle.

There is no need to saturate or soak any portion of the roller, as is usual with a mop. The wax can be sprayed onto the roller frequently and lightly, so it is applied in a substantially uniform condition.

There is no need for interrupting the waxing operation when additional wax is wanted on the roller. In fact, the evenest results are obtained when the wax is sprayed onto a uniformly rotating roller.

The wax gets little opportunity to dry out on the roller because it is promptly delivered to the floor by the very surface of the roller upon which it is received. On the average, the wax reaches the floor in a considerably more fluid condition than it does when a mop is used.

The roller tends to guide the machine in a straight path of substantial width, with the wax distributed evenly throughout the width of the path. There is no need for repetitive rolling, and the regularity of pattern makes it easy to fit adjacent zones together without objcctional gaps and without objectionable overlap.

When the job is finished there is no hurry about returning unused wax to the sealed container in which it was received from the manufacturer, and no worry about thickening of the unused wax. The roller can be cleaned more quickly, more easily, and with much less solvent than a mop requires.

I have described what I believe to be the best embodiments of my invention. I do not wish, however, to be confined to the embodiments shown, but what I desire to cover by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A light, portable device for applying liquid wax to floors in an even, efficient and economical manner, comprising, in combination,

(a) a floor engaging device supporting, applicator roller having a uniformly soft, resilient, floor conformable, cylindrical surface, adapted to be rolled along a floor with its aXis parallel .to the floor, and constituting, in operation, the only floor contacting element of the device,

(b) a handle having bearing portions in which the device supporting roller is rotatively mounted,

(c) a sealed reservoir for the liquid wax mounted on the handle,

(d) a manually opera'ble air pump associated with the reservoir for building up and maintaining superatmospheric pressure in the reservoir,

(e) a spray head facing the roller and spaced a short distance therefrom, which in operative position, is carried by the handle directly above a portion of the roller, said spray head extending substantially the full length of the roller, and having numerous discharge ports pointed toward the roller and located at frequent intervals throughout the length of the spray head, for delivering the wax solution to the roller in the form of a fine mist or spray,

(f) a wax discharge conduit connecting the lower end of the reservoir with the spray head,

(g) a wax discharge valve disposed in said conduit adjacent the spray head, and

(h) manually operable remote control means for the valve, including a valve operating member mounted on the handle in a position conveniently accessible to the operator and directly connected to the valve,

the construction and arrangement being such that the valve may be temporarily opened from time ,to time as the roller is being rolled along the floor to utilize the maintained pneumatic pressure for spraying a generally even, light wax coating onto the surface of the roller for immediate and direct application to the floor by the roller surface onto which the Wax is sprayed.

2. A light, portable device for applying liquid wax to floors as set forth in claim 1, in which the roller coating is a high pile, fleecy coating adapted to conform to the floor contour and to distribute the weight of the device evenly throughout the length of the roller.

3. A light, portable device for applying liquid Wax to floors as set forth in claim 1, in which the reservoir is of the funnel mouthed type and in which the air pump is removably mounted in the mouth of the reservoir and forms an eflective seal therefor.

4. A light, portable device for applying liquid wax to floors as set forth in claim 1 in which the valve is located below the reservoir in proximity to the spray head and the valve operating member is located above the reservoir, the remote operating means including a sheathed Bowden wire connected at one end to the valve and at the other end to the valve operating member.

5. A light, portable device for applying liquid wax .to floors as set forth in claim 1 in which the reservoir is aflixed to the lower half of the handle where its weight and the weight of its contents will be applied usefully to the roller to promote the even distribution of wax along the floor, and will not objectionably increase the burden of the operator in supporting the handle at the upper end thereof.

6. A light, portable device for applying liquid wax to floors as set forth in claim 1 which further includes spring means operatively associated with the valve and constantly urging the valve to or toward a closed condition.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,053,282 9/1936 Gewalt 401-188 X 2,104,161 1/1938 Koukal 401-188 X 2,988,763 6/1961 Sweet 401-219 X 3,123,851 3/1964 Arndt et al. 401-188 X 3,173,165 3/1965 Speight 401-219 X 3,335,448 8/1967 Knestele 401-188 X FOREIGN PATENTS 265,058 5/1963 Australia.

LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 401-219 

